The Passion Project

Wooster Group Video Artist Reid Farrington presents a workshop production of The Passion Project.

The piece is spun from the reels of the last great silent film, Carl Th. Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc. Dreyer tells his story through the eyes of Joan, using close ups and fast cuts to communicate the severity of her situation. It remains one of the most fascinating portraits of emotion ever captured on film.

With support from the Danish film Institute and The University of Copenhagen, this performance installation includes every frame Dreyer shot in relationship to the film, including the reels that — like Joan herself — were lost to fire.

The Passion Project explodes the film into the three dimensions; placing the audience inside the film, sitting next to Joan, subjecting them to her interrogators and the relentless rhythm of 30mm film projection. Using a single live actor and multiple projection surfaces, it explores the intersection of performance and film. It uses Dreyer’s classic film as the main narrative along with the history behind the making of the film, a discussion with a Danish archivist, the story of making this project, and Joan’s story; her trial, torture, and execution.